Why one mom had no problem getting HPV vaccine for her 11-year-old daughter

HPV vaccines are recommended for boys and girls to protect against sexually transmitted viruses that can cause cancer.AP File Photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Having endured the consequences of an HPV infection, Bethany Reed had no problem following her doctor’s advice to give her 11-year-old daughter the HPV vaccine.

“When I heard about the vaccine, I thought it was wonderful,” Reed said. “It (an HPV infection) was something I don’t have to worry about my daughter ever going through.”

Vaccination rates in the U.S. are low for the vaccine, which protects against human papillomaviruses - infections that can be sexually transmitted and cause cancer. Only 32 percent of American teenage girls have received the three-shot vaccination, according to a recent report by the National Cancer Institute.

Reed said she didn’t go into a lot of details when she told her daughter, Lily, about the vaccine.

“I told her it would protect her from diseases she could get when she got older,” she said.

When she was younger, Reed said she found out from a Pap test that she had precancerous changes in her cervix, caused by an HPV infection. She underwent two procedures to scrape out any cells that looked abnormal.

“Not comfortable,” she said.

Reed, who lives in Southeast Grand Rapids with her husband, Dave Milanowski, said she was surprised to hear controversy over the vaccine stemmed from fears that it would make girls more promiscuous, or make them more willing to engage in unsafe sex practices. She couldn’t imagine girls deciding to have unsafe sex just because they were protected against “a weird disease.”

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found the vaccine had no effect on girls’ sexual behavior.

A volunteer with Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan, Reed said she sees the controversy over the vaccine reflecting a deeper issue in American culture.

“We have to become more comfortable talking to our kids about sex,” she said. “They’re going to have it. At least if we talk to our kids, we can explain there are ways they could protect themselves.”